Two Guys Lose Weight: The Bluto 'Animal House' diet

The following is a blog documenting two Los Angeles Times editors' attempts to lose weight. It all began on Jan. 10.

Eat anything you want and lose weight? Although it sounds like something you might hear on a cheesy infomercial at 3 a.m., it is possible.

But, like anything, it's all about the moderation. My friend John e-mailed me last week attesting to his weight loss of 24 lbs. so far this year with a weekly pig-fest included.

He writes: "The key to my success doesn't lie in the austere diet or draconian exercise regimen. It's all about the cheat meal. No rules stifle the epicurean indulgence of my cheat meal. I can eat anything I want -- however much I want. It simply could not present a starker contrast to the rest of my week. That's not to say I suffer through each week, but I do long for my weekly cheat meal. I yearn for it. I strain toward it. It keeps me going. Some people prefer a monthly interval for their cheat meal. The weekly gap works well for me. It's never that far away, so my willpower remains at full capacity at all times."

Hmmm. To put it into something I understand, my friend turns into Bluto, John Belushi's character from "Animal House" every seven days. Just think of the cafeteria scene (video embedded below). That's John.

Come to think of it, that's what I've been doing nearly every week too (minus the "see if you can guess what I am now" part of the movie).

It's never planned. It just happens. Two weeks ago, it was a giant Delmonico steak. Last week it was a turtle sundae. Saturday, it was the return of the steak but this time a prime rib eye (and mashed potatoes, and breadsticks, and rice pudding).

Rest of the week, it's Nutrisystem. And five weeks into the diet, I've lost 16.5 lbs. At weigh-in time this morning, the scale registered a 188.5.

So, I'm winning the battle of the bulge. Although it looked ominous on Jan. 8, I didn't quit. I didn't give up. As Bluto said, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"